The present invention relates generally to protective eyewear and more particularly to protective eyewear worn while engaging in sporting activities.
Prior art protective goggles include those having transparent lenses for preventing the intrusion of balls, racquets or hands of an opponent into the eye area which could result in severe injury or even loss of vision. Such protective goggles have a tendency to impair vision due to the fact that they become scratched, fogged and/or serve as a collection surface for perspiration or other moisture.
Other types of protective goggles are lensless, but in order to prevent the intrusion of balls or other objects, the openings are relatively narrow thereby restricting vision to a large degree. One attempt to improve upon lensless goggles is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,837. This patent discloses lensless protective eyewear including vertically elongated openings in front of each eye to improve visibility. These openings are relatively restricted in order to prevent the game ball of the sport from penetrating therethrough. Another version includes rod-like members which extend vertically across the central area of view of the wearer and curve outwardly away from the face of the wearer in a protective convex configuration. As shown in FIGS. 10. and 11 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,837, this configuration entails the use of members having a relatively thick, rectangular cross-section in order to afford the stated protection. Furthermore, if thinner members are desired, the use of stiff, wirelike elements (see 39 of FIGS. 10a and 10b) constructed of separate metal pieces are disclosed. Although the thick members or metal pieces may retain the protective convex configuration upon impact, they still have a tendancy to impair the vision of the wearer which impairment is uncomfortable and burdensome for the participant who wears protective eyewear in fast moving sports such as racquetball and squash. Furthermore, if the metal pieces become bent or broken, or if the rod-like members become broken or marred, the entire goggles will have to be discarded since they are constructed as a single integral piece.
Another type of protective eyewear is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,561. This patent discloses lensless goggles having a construction also aimed at reducing impairment of visibility. These goggles additionally disclose the use of horizontal and vertical projections into the viewing openings for preventing the intrusion of the game ball, racquet or other foreign object, while attempting to minimize obstruction to vision. These projections extend outwardly away from the goggle frames in order to strengthen them against breakage from contact with the game ball, racquet or the like, and to deflect the ball away from the eye of the wearer. Although a purported improvement over the goggles having transparent lenses, the goggles disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,561 still hinder vision by use of the outwardly extending projections which, by necessity, have an appreciable thickness and extend into the viewing area in order to prevent the intrusion of the game ball, racquet or the like.
Consequently, it is desirable to provide protective eyewear of relatively lightweight construction, for use in sporting activities such as racquetball, squash and the like, which minimizes impairment to visibility while affording protection and increased comfort.